NEWS

Oceanflex durability results in new order for Fusion Marine

The ability of Oceanflex cages from Fusion Marine to withstand the roughest of sea conditions has resulted in salmon farming company Panfish taking delivery of a major cage order for its fish farm site on Gigha.

Sixteen new and refurbished Oceanflex cages were recently towed to Gigha from Fusion Marine’s coastal manufacturing base at Barcaldine near Oban.

According to Iain MacIntyre, Panfish Regional Manager South, the decision to opt for Oceanflex cages followed a previous installation at Ardgadden and Gob a Bharra in lower Loch Fyne, which withstood extremely rough sea conditions last winter.

“We like Oceanflex because of the build quality,” he says. “Last winter was one of the worse in recent times, yet the fully decked cages previously supplied to lower Loch Fyne withstood everything that was thrown at them, and this was a major reason why we decided to order Oceanflex for Gigha.

“We have a good long-term working relationship with Fusion and they offer value for money and good after-sales service,” he said.

The cage order featured 14 existing 70m cages that were upgraded and extended to create nine 100m fully decked cages. A further seven completely new 100m Oceanflex cages were manufactured for the order. All cages were fully fitted with safety decking as recommended under Health & Safety guidance.

The cages were then towed from the Marine Resource Centre at Barcaldine to Gigha in two tows of eight by the Easdale fishing vessel Rambling Rose skippered by Eoghn Maclachlan.

Such sea deliveries are an extremely economic and convenient way of transporting cages to their final destination.

“A delivery by sea is beneficial to us as it means we can get cages delivered directly to our sites,” said Iain MacIntyre.